For now the case is being investigated and detective measures are being taken in order to formalize the evidence of Savchenko’s complicity in the crimes she is accused of, IC spokesman says

Nadezhda Savchenko

MOSCOW, February 13. /TASS/. Russian investigators have irrefutable proof former Ukrainian helicopter pilot, Nadezhda Savchenko, was involved in correcting lethal artillery fire during last summer’s hostilities in south-eastern Ukraine that killed Russian reporters and there are no grounds for her release, Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said on Friday.

"All sorts of rumours being spread about the possibility Savchenko, who is facing criminal charges, may be released are devoid of any foundation. Savchenko is being kept at a detention center as a person accused of a very grave crime. I would like to recall that according to the investigators she was not a pilot, but an artillery fire corrector, and in this particular case, an accomplice in the killing of Russian journalists Igor Kornelyuk and Anton Voloshin.

Markin pointed out that Savchenko had been remanded in custody under a court ruling.

"It is a court of law that will determine the degree of her guilt and punishment," he said. For now the case is being investigated and detective measures are being taken in order to formalize the evidence of Savchenko’s complicity in the crimes she is accused of.

"I can only say that the investigators have irrefutable evidence including Savchenko’s own notes confirming her involvement in fire correction, the conclusions of ballistic experts regarding the fragments removed from the bodies of those killed and photo and video images from the site where the journalists died, and also satellite data. All these pieces of evidence have been presented by the investigators for forensic examination," Markin said.

This is only part of the evidence to be presented in court.

"In contrast to some politicians and so-called lawyers we proceed from the facts, and not emotion or political likes and dislikes," Markin said.